Gold Rush
All games named Gold Rush are grouped together here. Reviews Mr Micro C+VG Issue 1 An adventure with real gold for the first solver. Manchester based Mr. Micro's Gold Rush game had inquiries from keen adventurers long before Commodore's VIC-20 Computer was available. This original program costs £16 and should be available from any VIC dealer. I have no doubt that soon hundreds of VIC owners will be burning midnight phosphor as they take on the challenge of Gold Rush. Even the packaging is a welcome departure from the usual cassette software. Gold Rush is supplied in a good looking book type format, containing the cassette, the instructions, the claims registration guide and an assay application form. The cards are used for registering your claim to dig for gold in the program and confirm your right to the real gold. It is the fact that this program offers a bag of real gold which makes the game unique. Some of you may be aware that in the usual adventure type game any gold that you win, instantly disappears when you switch off the computer With this game when you get the gold you keep it, - you just have to be first! The only problem that I can report so far is that finding the hidden word that earns the gold, is going to take a lot of hard work. You see, the 1849 gold rush consists of not just one game, but what the notes describe as a number of 'challenges'. The first part is easy, since it is a very neat display teaching a little about the real gold rush and giving instructions on how to operate what is described as the "Mr Micro Time Terminal". This is basically a program which loads another program. A very effective way of overcoming the memory limitations of the standard VIC. The hard part comes next, because the screen then displays a map showing various numbers. The map is of California, and the numbers are sites that may be visited. Each site can only be visited when you know the key, and you get to know the key by solving puzzles or by reaching a high score in a game. This means that at the start you can only go directly to one of three locations. Once you have fulfilled the requirements then you can enter in the keys to play the next levels, and so on until at last you will reach your own gold mine. Each time you run the program the keys remain the same so if you like you can re-play the games that you enjoyed. For example I managed to gain access to "the Diggins" only after I had realised the relevance of the Indian Smoke Signals, now I can select that game straight away. The authors assure me that the games get better as the player gets better, but we shouldn't give too much away here. For those of you considering a computer and fancying your powers of co-ordination and mental agility the program could even make it worthwhile buying a VIC, since Mr. Micro have guaranteed that the minimum value of the gold will be £150. Furthermore for every program supplied the company will add more gold. Only one winner but this program must be regarded as good value, even if you do not manage to find the Golden Word. Many original and innovative elements have been incorporated, which I am certain will soon be copied by other software writers. Although no individual game that I have yet reached would justify high praise in its own right. By the way, Mr Micro estimates no one will solve it for at least six weeks After that... Thorn EMI Features News C+VG Issue 1 One computer game destined to follow the success of Kit Thomas' treasure book "Masquerade" is Goldrush. "Masquerade" was the book which became a best seller by offering clues to a £5,000 piece of jewellery in the shape of a hare. Since it first appeared many treasure hunters have dug up various stately homes and searched numerous river beds in the mistaken belief that they have solved the clues and will find the treasure. Whether Mr Micro's VIC game Goldrush will keep its players guessing for as long, we will have to wait and see - but there is no shortage of interested people waiting to try solving the problem. The prize for the winner is real gold nuggets provided by Mr Micro. The game is an Adventure type based on the 1849 Californian gold-rush. Participants start trekking across to California with a number of clues to be found on the way. Once there, you have to stake a claim and try to find the Golden Word. First person to get in touch with Mr Micro with the correct word wins the gold. A review appears on page 88. Coming soon for the just-released Commodore VIC 20 is a variety of new games including versions of Puckman, the popular arcade game, Galaxians, Cosmic Jailbreak, Space Invaders and Moon Lander. These were scheduled for release in October at the earliest and will be covered in more detail in future issues. Category:VIC-20 Games Category:Spectrum Games Category:Mr Micro Ltd Category:C+VG Reviews Category:Crash Reviews Category:Thorn EMI